LAPIQUE
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
Lapicque was a prominent French physiologist who specialized in the quantitative study of excitability in living tissues and organs. He introduced the concept of chronaxie and developed methods for its determination, which became the most precise method for assessing tissue excitability.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
LAPIQUE Louis (Louis Barkhausen, b. 1866), outstanding French physiologist, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Paris (Sorbonne), honorary doctor of Oxford University. Since 1903, Lapicque and his school have been engaged almost exclusively in the quantitative study of excitability of various living tissues and organs. The thorough development of this question gave L. the opportunity to introduce the concept of chronaxie and develop methods for its determination. At present, the method of determining chronaxie should be recognized as the most precise of all existing methods for determining tissue excitability, allowing for important conclusions about the functional state of the tissue. L. summarized his research in the book "L'excitabilité en fonction du temps; la chronaxie, sa definition et sa mesure" (Paris, 1926).
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Cite this page
“LAPIQUE.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/lapique/